Rooftop Grill hearing delayed

This is the proposed site at 1509 N. El Camino Real for Rooftop Grill & Bar, a restaurant with an outdoor rooftop patio. FRED SWEGLES, REGISTER FILE PHOTO

San Clemente businessman David Gutierrez’s much-debated plan to remodel a one-story building at 1509 N. El Camino Real into a two-level Rooftop Grill & Bar will get a City Council hearing a month later than scheduled.

On Tuesday, Gutierrez requested and was granted a postponement of his public hearing. The delay until the Dec. 3 council meeting will give him more time to respond to new information in a city staff report, said Jim Holloway, San Clemente’s community-development director.

In August, the Planning Commission rejected Gutierrez’s plan due to concerns about potential effects on the neighborhood. City staff now recommends approval if the outdoor rooftop patio closes at 9 p.m., if a side courtyard patio closes at 10 p.m., if a front patio closes at 11 p.m. and if no live entertainment is allowed on the rooftop. The staff report recommends that no disc jockeys be allowed on the rooftop patio but that amplified sound be allowed there within the city’s code limitations.

The report recommends that live entertainment be permitted downstairs inside the building until midnight, with windows and doors closed.

There are still questions about how much seating the business could have. Gutierrez has said he needs 200 seats. The site has no off-street parking. Parking waivers Gutierrez has requested would leave the restaurant relying mostly on curbside parking and agreements with neighboring landowners to share parking.

Gutierrez has an agreement to use six off-street parking spaces at Bull Taco. He also is seeking shared-parking agreements with other neighbors.

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